Listening—Part II

About a week and a half ago, I wrote a little about listening from the perspective of welcoming the voices of those who disagree with you or who don’t like you very much or who are, perhaps, your enemies.  Listening in such a way takes great humility, patience, perseverance, and wisdom.
 

Today, though, I want to write a little about listening to God.

To begin, I’d like start by asking the following line of questions:  How does God speak to you?  What has His Voice sounded like to you in the past?  What does it sound like today?

In my life, God speaks to me in a host of ways…

Mostly, He speaks to me as I read His Word and other sacred texts, books, essays, articles, and blog posts written by the saints of God, both current and in distant history.

And, of course, God speaks to me through the messages of my many pastors and teachers.

In addition, He speaks to me through my family, friends, and, as I wrote last week, even my enemies.

All of the above are direct and indirect mediums through which God speaks to me.

God also, though, speaks to me directly through my own heart and mind.

A few years ago, I began the practice of conversing with God out loud.  Do you ever do that? 

Well, I do… all the time.

In fact, if you were to listen to my times with God, I’m quite sure that it would sound a lot more like me just talking back and forth with myself than anything else.  But, it’s more than just that.  Much more.  It’s a very intimate time between me and my Father, during which, I share what’s on my heart and then listen to (by speaking forth vocally) what I believe to be God’s Words in response.  The converse also takes place, wherein, God shares what’s on His Heart, and, amazingly, invites me to share my reflective responses.  All of it, of course, happens out loud through the medium of my own voice.

Do I believe that scripture is being created during these times?  No.  But God and I do share A LOT from what He’s already given us in His Divine Word.  Mostly, I think, God just likes to share His Heart with me, and, I feel, very much enjoys it when I share mine with Him.  I will tell you that during these times, God illuminates His Word to me in ways that are exceedingly fresh, inspiring, exciting, and devastating.

Many have asked me if I ever hear “Thus saith the Lord” kinds of things as they relate to direction in my life.  My answer to that is as it has always been:  “God rarely speaks to me in that way.”  In fact, it is my belief that God rarely speaks to anyone in that way—period.  God, my friends, is the Perfect Gentleman and the Consummate Loving Companion; far more often than not, I believe He speak in the “still, small Voice” written of in the scriptures.  God always, I believe, speaks from a place of stillness.  And, I believe, it’s usually about small, day-to-day—but exceedingly important—things.  At least, important to Him and to you and me.

Rarely, I think, does God speak to another and tell such a one (out of the blue) to leave his or her job, give away all of his or her possessions, and then relocate to Afghanistan to serve political refugees.  In fact, I don’ think God EVER speaks in such a fashion.  And, by that, I mean, I don’t think He ever speaks in a manner that is incongruent with the ways in which He’s already been speaking to someone throughout the course of that particular person’s life.  Yes, there are accounts in the scriptures where God commanded a follower of His to go and do something really, really huge, but I think that those times are different from what I’m writing about in this post.  In those instances, say with Abraham or Moses, what God spoke to those two gentlemen was, I believe, consistent with the ways in which He’d already been speaking to them throughout their lives. 

Yes…sometimes we must step out in faith, but God never asks us to do anything that exceeds our faith.  To me, that would be like asking a yellow belt in karate to fight someone like Anderson Silva in a UFC mixed martial arts title match.  I’m sorry…but God DOES NOT do that kind of thing.  Look at David.  Yeah, God asked Him to face Goliath, but only after David had garnered years—and I mean years—of experience trusting God in smaller things…like facing wolves and bears that wanted to take one or more of his sheep.

As I am writing all of this, I’m wondering if the reason most of us are deaf toward God is the sad fact that we fear that, if we really were to open our hearts up to Him and begin to listen to what He has to say, He’s going to ask us to give away everything we have and move to Afghanistan.  Again, I don’t believe that God works like that.  In fact, if a brother I know, who has never before been involved in missions, were to come up to me and tell me that God just told him to leave his job and become a missionary in Afghanistan, I would immediately question the validity of such a “word from God.”  God acts congruently and rationally.  His acts are always ordinate, fitting, and timely.  All of us, my friends, are to live in accordance with the measure of faith God has given us.

In contrast with the above, consider this…

What if a brother you know comes to you and tells you something similar to the aforementioned brother?  Only this time, this particular brother has a well-known and lasting passion for God in prayer and missions, has had (for years!) a burning desire within to serve God specifically in Afghanistan, has a deep love for the Afghan people, has traveled to Afghanistan several times, has studied their history, and has, at least, a rudimentary understanding of their language and culture?  What would your response be to this man’s “word from God?”  Especially, if he came to you for guidance in making sure that he was discerning God’s word accurately? 

I’ll tell you what my response would be.  It would be something akin to the following…

“Praise God, my brother!!  Finally, it would seem, that God is bringing to fulfillment the desires He birthed within your heart many years ago.  How thrilling!!  How can I best support you in your being able to do this very thing?”

Can you see the difference?

Even though the above scenarios are purely hypothetical, can we not, at least in concept, agree that, while both “words” point to something similar, only one meets the test of life-congruence?

I write all of the above as an encouragement to all of you to open yourselves up to the Voice of God.  I believe that He has a lot that He wishes to share with you, and I think it has a lot more to do with how He might be able to satisfy the longings He’s placed within your heart than much of anything else.  THAT, my friends, is how I believe God works within us.

Given the importance of this subject, I would like to write more about these things in future posts.  Lord-willing, God will grant me the honor of being able to do so.

May God’s great blessings be upon you and all those whom you love,

Dave